There had been a bit of mud slinging between former director general Mark Thompson and BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten prior to the hearing about who knew what and when, and the actors struggled to hide their feelings - said Bell.

"A line of metaphorically and literally red-faced executives sat shoulder to shoulder, barely controlling their animosity toward one another, during a systematic and riveting three-hour grilling by MPs led by Margaret Hodge," she wrote.

The Daily Mail's Quentin Letts also drew a dramatic comparison: "The longer it lasted, the more it resembled one of those vote-outs in a TV talent show, where you know one of the contestants must take the bullet."

Ann Treneman, sketchwriter for The Times, described it as "reality TV about unreal people".

"The mood was cross and resentful," said its sketchwriter Michael Deacon.

The BBC hierarchy appeared to operate according to its own rules, with members of the privileged club rewarding each other with incomes commensurate with their egos rather than their talentsDaily Telegraph

"It was like that bit in the Apprentice when the captain of the losing team and the two worst performing candidates are dragged into Lord Sugar's boardroom to find out who's to blame for their team's catastrophic failure, and the answer is always, 'Everyone but me'."

Meanwhile, Mrs Hodge, the Labour MP in charge of the Public Accounts Committee, is cast as the headmistress-like heroine of the boardroom.

'Grasping elite'

But on a serious note, many of the editorials said the show raised questions about the future of the licence fee and the BBC Trust, which has the dual role of being the corporation's regulator and cheerleader.

The Sun described the evidence as "jaw-dropping" and focused on Mr Thompson's justification for giving Mr Byford more than he was contractually entitled to.

The reason offered was because the corporation had wanted Mr Byford to be "fully focused" on his job in the final months of his tenure.

"The whole cabal scratched each other's backs with cash, a hundred thousand here and a quarter of a million there. Stuffing their pockets with licence payers' hard-earned money," the paper said.

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Media captionLord Patten: "BBC has a culture of over-paying"

The idea of an "elite" and a "cosy culture" at the top of the corporation is shared by several other national newspapers.